D’Addario Donates Products to Young Students in Vietnam

"I have never seen so much happiness in my life". An Tran, guitar student in Chicago, visits students in Vietnam.

My name is An Tran, I am a Vietnamese guitar student at North Park University in Chicago. I got your contact info from professor Michael Newman. I am a big fan of D’addario and I personally use D’Addario strings for all of my guitars.

I was a student at the Vietnam National Academy of Music for many years before coming to the States. A set of real D’addario strings was a dream for us. We could not afford strings or even if we could, they would be counterfeit or not in great conditions. So I knew exactly what the guitar students in Vietnam were going through and I have always wanted to help them. I am, in many ways, much luckier than others, to have an education from the United States.

Back in October, the Vietnam Red Cross Organization invited me back to Vietnam. They offered me an amazing opportunity of playing concerts in different parts of northern Vietnam with the purpose of bringing music to underserved people and support their charity activities.

In November 2013, Michael Newmans assisted me in asking D’Addario for string donations for my tour in Vietnam in December. I received an incredible amount of stuff including 30 sets of strings, 30 T-shirts and 5 tuners from D’Addario.

During my time there, I visited my old school, which is the National Academy of Music. I played for them, and also listened to their playing. I saw some incredible talented students but exactly as I thought, many of them have not changed strings in 3 to 8 months. I gave 20 sets of D’Addario strings and 5 tuners to the school at that day, they will save the rest for each semester to reward the best student. The other 10 sets I gave to different guitar clubs and organizations throughout Hanoi. For the T-shirts, I divided them into smaller portions to give out to children in different locations, including orphanages, Agent Orange victims village, during my traveling and concert tour. I have never seen so much happiness in my life. The children were incredibly happy with their new shirts. The students just could not wait to change their strings and put on a new “real” amazing set straight from the US.

I, on behalf of Vietnam, sincerely would like to thank you and D’Addario for making it happen.